Luciano Trigo

Throughout the 20th century, populist leaders in Latin America hoisted the Marxist banners, made anti-imperialist declarations and promised to relieve their peoples from poverty. Without exception, all these policies and ideologies failed, which was a setback for the strong men and for the illusory utopias of the left. Now, a new generation of revolutionaries is trying to resurrect the ineffective methods of their predecessors. Hugo Chávez from Venezuela and Evo Morales from Bolivia are the exponents of this new “carnivore” left, which is still caught in the mentality of the Cold War. Another left, the “vegetarian” one, which rules in Chile and Brazil, try to avoid the mistakes of the past. But the fact is that the Latin American idiot is back.

This is what Álvaro Vargas Llosa, Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza and Carlos Alberto Montaner declare in La vuelta del idiota (The Return of the Idiot), released by Odisséia Editorial. They are the same authors of the confrontational best-seller Manual del perfecto idiota latino-americano [Manual of the Perfect Latin American Idiot], published in 1996. The book criticized political and opinion leaders who, despite all the evidence, were stuck to outdated political myths. So, they said, the species of the “idiots” was to blame of Latin America’s underdevelopment. Beliefs such as revolution, economic nationalism, hatred towards the United States, faith in the government as an agent of social justice, passion for the strong-man regime instead of the law, were the consequence, according to the authors, in an inferiority complex.

The “carnivore” left and the “vegetarian” left

Nationalistic and populist ideas appeared again with great strength in Latin America. This is what The Return of the Idiot denounces when analyzing the regimes of Hugo Chávez, Evo Morales and Nestor Kirchner, who represent the “carnivore” left. But the book also points towards the mistakes committed and the risks represented by the “vegetarian” left, which holds power in Brazil, Uruguay and Peru, very often with the support of European and even American intellectuals and politicians. On the other side, the authors present experiences which have proved quite successful of countries that chose liberal strategies of growth, like Chile.

Reading this book is a vaccine against idiocy!

How can we recognize an idiot?

Traditionally, Latin American Idiots were identified with caudillos, almost supernatural authoritarian figures who have dominated politics in the region, hollering against foreign influence and republican institutions. On the other side, once in a while, the vision of the world of the Idiot finds echo among remarkable European and American intellectuals. They are pontificators, who lighten the weight of the conscience by supporting exotic causes in developing countries. Their opinions attract fans amongst the young people in the First World, for who the phobia of globalization offers the perfect opportunity of finding spiritual satisfaction in the populist wailings of the Latin American Idiot against the wicked West.

The authors of The Return of the Idiot show that those foreign observers are overlooking a crucial point: Latin American populism has nothing to do with social justice. Populists have basic common characteristics: the strong will of the caudillo as a substitute for the law; the denounce of imperialism (the enemy is generally the U.S.); the projection of the class struggle between rich and poor to the ground of international relations; the idolatry of the State as a force that will redeem the poor; authoritarianism under the disguise of security, and patronage, a form of paternalism in which public service is the means of social mobilization and the way to capture votes for elections, as opposed to the generation of wealth. The legacy of these policies is quite clear: almost half the population of Latin America is poor, with more than one out of every five who live with 2 dollars of less per day. And between 1 and 2 million immigrants who year after year seek a better life in the United States and Europe.

The authors

Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza (Colombia, 1932) is a writer and journalist who studied Political Science in Paris. Carlos Alberto Montaner (Cuba, 1943) is a novelist, essayist and journalist. He has taught in universities in Europe, the United States and Latin America. Álvaro Vargas Llosa (Perú, 1966) studied in the London School of Economics and has worked as a journalist in Europe, the United States and Latin America.
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Luciano Trigo
Brazilian journalist from Río de Janeiro

Source: www.miradaglobal.com